The first royal kennels was mentioned in the last will and testament of Grand Duke Ivan III in 1504. The Grand Duke was extremely interested in breeding pedigree hunting dogs. His son and heir, Grand Duke Vasiliy III was passionately fond of hunting with dogs. A German diplomat, Sigismund Gerberstein, the author of entertaining descriptions of the state of Moscovy in the first half of the 16th century, reported that there were two types of hunting dogs at the kennels of Vasiliy III. There were "large dogs" like borzois and hounds and "smaller dogs" such as Caucasian borzois. The latter, which were highly valued, were used for hunting hares...